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By the summer of 1805, Lewis and Clark were desperate to find the Shoshone. They needed to buy horses so they could cross the Rocky Mountains before winter.
On July 22, Sacagawea began to see places she knew. She told the captains that up ahead was where three smaller rivers come together to form the Missouri. The group was glad to hear this. A few days later, they reached the three forks. Sacagawea told them that this was where her people had been camped when the Hidatsa kidnapped her. In his journal, Lewis wrote: “She does not... show any distress at these recollections, or any joy at the prospect of being restored to her country.” He would soon see how wrong he was.
◀ On April 7, the expedition left Fort Mandan. They didn’t see another human until August 11. That’s when Lewis and a scouting party saw a lone Shoshone on horseback. But the horseman rode off, probably in fear.
▲ On August 15, Sacagawea, Charbonneau, and Clark were walking through high grass. Suddenly, Sacagawea began to jump up and down. She started dancing with joy. She pointed to approaching Indians and sucked her fingers, which was a sign that they were her people.
◀ Cameahwait told Sacagawea that most of her family was dead. Only two brothers and her oldest sister’s son were alive. Sacagawea immediately adopted the little boy. Cameahwait enjoyed a piece of dried squash the expedition had brought from the Mandans. He also got a lump of sugar that Sacagawea had saved for a treat.
▲ It is amazing that Lewis and Clark were able to communicate with the Shoshone. That’s because every spoken word had to go through a chain of translators. Lewis and Clark spoke English to one of their men, Labiche. He translated their words into French for Charbonneau, who spoke in Hidatsa to Sacagawea. She then translated the words into Shoshone. When the Shoshone answered, the process had to be repeated in reverse. The expedition got the horses they needed. But there was still a lot of hard traveling to do before they reached the Pacific Ocean.
▲ Sacagawea was successful in getting the Shoshone to trade horses to the Corps. She also got them to provide guides. Why did she go on with the journey instead of staying with her people? Maybe she felt loyalty to the Corps. Maybe she liked the adventure. All we know for sure is that when Lewis and Clark left the Shoshone, Sacagawea went with them.
